Stark On Werth, Willingham, Cantu, Theriot

Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth told ESPN's Jayson Stark he's "not up late reading the blog sites" regarding trade rumors, but he doesn't expect to be dealt. Stark agrees, though he notes that the Phillies did toss Werth's name out there to many teams. On to Stark's other rumors…

The Dodgers are looking at Ted Lilly, but they haven't completely abandoned the idea of acquiring Roy Oswalt. Still, the impediments to an Oswalt deal remain significant. Lilly appears certain to be traded.

Josh Willingham is drawing interest from the Braves, Rays, and Red Sox. Adam Dunn remains a trade candidate as well, but the Nationals would only deal one of the two.

Money might be holding up a Jorge Cantu-Rangers deal, as the Rangers can't add any payroll and would want the Marlins to pick up the entire $2.25MM tab.

I’m a Cubs fan, and I wish Colletti would go for Lilly and the Cubs would foot the bill for the better prospect. The problem is that I’ve already read several places that the Cubs have said they don’t want to pay his salary if they trade him (places being cubs.com & espn — sorry for the lack of links).
I would love to see if we could pry a young pitcher out of the Dodgers horses in a rental of Lilly!

Also, in regards to Keppinger, why wouldn’t the Cardinals be interested in him? He should platoon with Schumaker, as Schumaker struggles mightily against lefties (.215 /.283/.238 career) but does well against right-handers (.311/.366/.423 career).

I like Willingham for the Braves (from an offensive standpoint, at least), but I have to wonder how big an upgrade he would be from a Hinske/Diaz platoon the way Diaz has been hitting of late. An upgrade to be sure, but would it be worth giving up pitching prospects that could haunt us within the division? Don’t know the answer to my own question.

I would hate to see Diaz in center, as he isn’t even a very good left fielder. I think Heyward could pull it off for a year or two until his age catches up with his frame. He is seriously way too fast for a guy whose that big.

No matter who we throw out there, it can’t be as bad as any outfield that includes Garrett Anderson. Braves should send McLouth back to AAA and bring back Blanco. If Blanco had been on the team this weekend we would have won the game on Sunday night.

I kinda wish we could bring in Andruw Jones as a backup outfielder. He’s so thin now!

Agreed that Diaz as a CF would be less than cool defensively.
And as far as Heyward, I’m just talking for the rest of this year. Worst case promote Shafer and get a good glove and no bat for $400K instead of $7M…

How funny.. Who else here sees Jeffrey Loria picking up 1 dime of any money owed to Cantu in a trade? If Texas has interest in Cantu, they better hope Hicks, or the welfare supporters of that team (29 other owners) pony up, because don’t expect Loria to, regardless of whether or not his team were to get a better player back or not. His team moves players for *1* reason.. Financial and it does not matter if it hurts the dwindling fan base or not.

If I were a GM, I would definitely be seriously inquiring about Josh Willingham. He can be controlled through 2011 and it doesn’t seem like the Nats would have as insane an asking price for him then they do for Dunn. How many available players out there have an OBP over .400? Plus he plays decent defense. I think a team like the Giants would be a great fit. They wouldn’t have to give up Bumgarner, Sanchez, or Wheeler for him either.

Would love to see Greinke in red pinstripes. KC isn’t going anywhere with him, and management is probably scared that he’s entering into the pricey years of that four-year extension he signed in 2009 ($13.5 million due in each of 2011 and 2012).

Agreed. I never thought it was likely, but it sure would be interesting, right? The Royals are said to be listening to offers on everyone, so I think it’s worth at least talking about. They’d probably ask for Domonic Brown, and I’d hang up the phone. I think you do it if you can get it done without him though. I imagine he’d tear the National League a new one.

theriot is one of my favorite players but if were gonna sell why not trade him?
we have fontenot, baker, darwin barney (cubs were very impressed with him in ST) for this year, and we have hak-ju and flaherty coming in the future. not to mention opening up a spot for a FA or something.

Middle Infielder not a priority for Padres. Pitcher and RH power bat ARE priorities for Padres. Padres very much in hunt for Werth. They asked MLB for permission on something regarding Werth, so do not be surprised if he is a Padre within next 48 hours. Lilly, Guthrie and even Oswalt have been subject of discussions with teams.

Where did you see the info on Werth? IF, and that’s a big IF, the Padres could acquire both Werth and Lilly without totally cleaning out the farm system, this would be the greatest trade deadline in franchise history. I’m sure that the Padres aren’t the only team interested in either player, so let the bidding war begin. Even with Werth having a down year he would be an upgrade over anyone they have already and Lilly would add some leadership and eat some good innings. Good luck Jed.